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Serbia reach Hopman Cup final

Justin Chadwick

Australia's hopes of making the Hopman Cup tennis final are over after Serbian pair Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic powered to singles wins in Friday night's tie against Germany.

World No.1 Djokovic destroyed German Tommy Haas 6-2 6-0, before Ivanovic needed just 37 minutes to beat Tatjana Malek 6-0 6-1, giving Serbia an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie and a spot in the final against Spain.

Australia would have made the decider of the mixed-teams event had Germany beaten the top-ranked Serbians.

But Djokovic and Ivanovic never looked like losing, with the pair to face Spain's Fernando Verdasco and Anabel Medina Garrigues on Saturday night at Perth Arena.

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Djokovic was left stunned on Wednesday night when he suffered a straight sets loss to Australia's Bernard Tomic.

But the five-times grand slam winner was in hot form against Haas who couldn't match the powerful Serbian.

Djokovic, who struck 33 winners to 12, only arrived in Perth from Abu Dhabi on Sunday and said he had finally overcome jet lag.

"I was aware of the fact that coming in late here would take its toll," Djokovic said.

"I was expecting a few very slow days for me.

"I wasn't getting much sleep.

"I was going to bed not before 3am and waking up very tired. But right now I'm feeling great. Melbourne is the priority so I try to get ready for the Australian Open as much as I can."

Ivanovic struck 16 winners to one in her win.

"I played really well and I'm so happy to make the final. We've been dreaming of this moment for so long," said Ivanovic, who was forced to pull out of the final two years ago due to a stomach injury.

Earlier on Friday, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became the third player to succumb to injury at this year's event when he tweaked his hamstring during his 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) win over South Africa's Kevin Anderson.

Tsonga has since been forced to pull out of the Sydney International, leaving his Australian Open campaign in doubt.

Chanelle Scheepers beat France's Mathilde Johansson 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the women's singles, with Tsonga's withdrawal during the doubles handing South Africa a 2-1 win in the tie.

To add further drama, Haas was unable to take part in the mixed doubles due to a toe injury.

"After you get such a whooping from the world No.1, I decided to leave it to someone else," Haas said.

"I'll take a few days off, go on vacation, and think deeply about whether I should play tennis.

"But all joking aside, I did have the injury for the last few days. I wasn't even sure if I could come out today."

Sixteen-year-old Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis was called up to replace Haas in the mixed doubles.

Kokkinakis was also given the late call-up on Thursday to replace Isner, with the South Australian putting up a good fight against Spain's Fernando Verdasco before losing 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.